WHITING, Ind. -- A doubleheader sweep of Indiana University South Bend less than 24 hours earlier after a ten-day layoff in between games and back-to-back road trips to the state of Indiana showed no ill effects for the University of St. Francis softball team, which scored 15 more runs and totaled another 28 hits in a doubleheader sweep of Calumet College of St. Joseph (Ind.) on Sunday afternoon at the Whiting Sports Complex. The Saints put together five separate multiple-run innings on the day to earn 9-1 and 6-2 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference victories, marking their second-highest scoring output of the season.

Two Saints among many that did not show any rust in their swings were Jaelynn Taylor and Rose Mwaro.  Taylor delivered a home run to straight-away center field and scored four runs on the afternoon, while Mwaro posted back-to-back two-hit games.  She went 4-for-8 overall with one run scored and a trio of RBIs.

Game 1:  USF 9, Calumet St. Joseph 1 (6 innings)
The Saints (13-14, 8-2 CCAC) matched their season-high hit count (16) with five of nine starters producing multiple hits in the game.  Kylie Cook led the way with three hits and two RBIs, with Mwaro (two RBI), Taylor (one), Emily Boyle and Hailey Kaddatz all authoring two hits.  Emily Hurst, Isabella Landeros, Alana Gray and Chylece Cluck each added to the hit parade with one run-producing single apiece.  Morgan Smardo also chipped in one single, as well.

Cook and Mwaro had the big hits in the third and fourth innings, respectively, accounting for four runs with two-run singles each.  Two sacrifice flies from Hurst and Landeros in the latter frame made it a 6-0 game before Calumet (8-22, 3-7) countered with one run of its own in the top half of the fifth inning.

Taylor then got her big day at the plate started with the solo home run to lead off the bottom of the fifth inning and followed with an infield single that would result in the junior first baseman scoring on a Cluck RBI single later in the stanza.  That marked the final score at 9-1 in the six-inning shortened USF victory.

Gray would also account for an RBI in the sixth inning with her first career hit resulting in Cook crossing the plate.

Kiersten Manning went the distance for the Saints in the circle to improve to 7-7.  She struck out seven hitters, while scattering just four hits in the contest.

Game 2:  USF 6, Calumet St. Joseph 2
After giving up one run in the top of the first inning, the Saints answered back by scoring four runs over the first three innings of play.  A quiet fourth inning turned into a loud fifth with Calumet scoring one run countered by two from St. Francis in the frame before scoreless innings in the sixth and seventh innings resulted in the 6-2 final score in favor of the Saints.

Ten of USF's 12 hits went for singles, all of which either drove in runs or eventually came home to score. Included were RBI extra-base hits from Mwaro (double) and Smardo (triple).

Manning (2-for-3, 1 run) drove in three of the team's runs with a pair of two-out singles.  Taylor (3-for-3, 2 runs) was also credited with a run batted in.

Emily Boyle (6-6) picked up her sixth win of the season with the complete-game victory.  She struck out an impressive 10 batters out of the 30 she faced, while allowing just four hits in the contest.

Up Next
The Saints will take the field again on Tuesday, April 15 when they host the Bees of St. Ambrose University (Iowa) in a CCAC matchup at Harlow Lockwood Softball Field in Joliet, Ill.  The doubleheader is set to begin at 3 pm.

You can keep up with everything happening around USF Athletics on X @USFSaints.